Chapter 6
Unlike a baron, who in reality was at the level of a member of parliament but appeared as a minor character in fantasy novels, a duke appeared as a high-ranking figure even in fantasy novels.
This was inevitable because a duke was a monster equivalent to a party leader cum prime minister (or deputy prime minister) in 21st century terms.
Although I felt a sense of unease and crisis about whether I should lower myself according to the common sense I had lived with for nearly 20 years in the Tuscan Empire.
"Thank you very much for making time for me, Your Grace."
Groveling when dealing with high-ranking people was the wrong answer.
It was not to say that manners should be thrown to the wind.
Showing a humble yet principled attitude was the way to avoid being looked down upon by high-ranking individuals.
"If you had trembled like other common fellows under me, I would have been greatly disappointed. I like your dignified yet not arrogant demeanor."
The duke smiled subtly.
He shrugged slightly and asked back.
"Am I not frightening at all?"
Fear directly translates to authority.
If I say I'm not scared, he might get angry, thinking I'm looking down on him.
By Korean standards, this would be extremely rude behavior, but in our empire, it's highly disrespectful for someone of lower status not to fear a higher-ranking person.
To the extent that even if my head were physically cracked, I would have no right to complain.
"How could that be possible?"
"You seem quite confident when saying that."
"I fear failing to gain Your Grace's trust more. That's why I'm trying to maintain composure and not waver even in the face of Your Grace's majesty."
Duke Visconti tapped the desk in front of him after hearing my words.
"I think we can talk a bit longer. Sit down there."
I'm glad that the humble yet confident strategy seemed to have worked well.
But now the real battle begins.
The duke had the teacup and teapot beside him cleared away, and deliberately brought out new tea in a gold-crafted teapot.
Usually, the aroma of tea could only be smelled when the teacup was brought close to the nose.
To smell the tangy scent of fruit even before drinking the tea.
"How's the aroma of the tea?"
"This is the best tea I've ever had."
"It's Royal Grey, personally bestowed upon me by the imperial family."
Such conversations might seem meaningless on the surface.
However, when you dig into the underlying meaning, it contains very important implications.
First, someone of the duke's rank could probably store several boxes of tea leaves bestowed by the imperial family in his warehouse.
Because it's frequently bestowed by the imperial family.
Nevertheless, the value of black tea that only imperial family members could drink, bestowed by the 'imperial family', was beyond imagination.
It's absolutely not something that could be bought just by hoarding money.
This must mean he had high expectations for me.
"I have high expectations for you."
It was a threat that he would be very disappointed if I didn't meet those expectations.
"I wish to give you an opportunity to strike a blow against the Sforza ducal family."
There were two ducal families in the Tuscan Empire.
Among them, the Visconti ducal family was the weaker one.
The Sforza ducal family could be considered the strongest.
Therefore, defeating the Sforza family has always been the goal of successive Visconti dukes.
"If you lie or speak nonsense, I'll remove the ornament above your shoulders for the crime of insulting me."
While in the Republic of Korea, politicians saying "I'll kill you" at most meant using their connections and lawyers to make you a criminal through judicial procedures.
In the Tuscan Empire, it was common to execute beheadings on the guillotine for the crime of blasphemy.
There were even occasional reports of nobles with broken personalities killing serfs just for touching them.
"I have devised a new method of steel production. Using this method, we can easily obtain massive amounts of steel."
The duke's eyes lit up as soon as he heard the word steel.
"Steel? A method to easily obtain steel, is that really true? You're not lying, are you? No, you wouldn't be crazy enough to tell such a lie in front of me."
The mass production of steel was such an enormous matter that even someone of the duke's stature was stammering.
In our empire now, the cost to train one knight was about 120 gold coins, more than half of which was equipment cost.
And over 80% of the equipment cost was the money that went into making steel, most of which was labor cost.
This was because our empire's steel-making method is a crude one where pig iron was made and then hammered to death to make steel.
'How could it be cheap when human lives are being ground away?'
Wouldn't it look more credible if I explained this with pictures?
"May I show you a diagram for explanation?"
I took out a picture from my breast pocket.
"I haven't shown this to Baron Medici or my father yet, but I'm showing it to you first, Your Grace."
The duke couldn't take his eyes off the picture after hearing my words.
"This is called a reverberatory furnace. It's a furnace that can easily turn pig iron into steel."
"Explain the principle."
"We put charcoal in this hole at the bottom right and light a fire. Then hot air rises and melts the pig iron in the center."
"Does anything change by melting iron that already contains impurities?"
"Iron melts at extremely high temperatures. So the impurities inside burn away."
There were several differences between pig iron, wrought iron, and steel, but basically it's like this.
The lower the level of impurities, the higher the strength.
So we make this reverberatory furnace to burn away the impurities.
"When all the impurities are burned away, all the iron left inside becomes steel."
After hearing my words, the duke looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
"It's so simple and easy it's almost disappointing. Of course, there would be a lot of trial and error if we actually make this."
The structure of a reverberatory furnace itself was not that difficult.
To exaggerate a little, if you know the shape, you could probably make it with middle school students.
However, this was invented in the 1830s.
It's easy to make but very difficult to conceive.
"If we add a little animal bone to this, the strength will increase a bit more."
The 'phosphorus' in it plays an important role.
"You don't have any other technologies besides this, do you?"
Actually, I did have more.
A blast furnace shaped like a chimney that turns iron ore into pig iron, a Bessemer converter that requires more advanced technology than a reverberatory furnace but can produce steel in tons once built, and so on.
Technologies that could change the history of industry just by making one.
However, I didn't have enough money to make these right now.
While a reverberatory furnace was about the size of a house, a blast furnace needs to be built at least 20 meters tall.
Making a Bessemer converter would be a struggle to implement the air vents.
"I'll keep it a secret."
"For a young fellow these days, you've got quite some guts. Keeping secrets from me."
Well, just showing this has already skyrocketed my value long ago.
Why would I reveal my secrets?
I should make him misunderstand on his own and raise my value.
"I am a merchant. It's my daily life to put even my life on the scale to make money. So, how much will you buy me for?"
The duke crossed his arms leisurely and smiled.
His mouth corners almost touched his ears.
"I hear you're currently embroiled in a church trial? Without any special backing, you won't be able to fend off Christian's offensive."
Was he trying to lower my price in exchange for saving my life?
Well, it's common in any game to get a discount on items after saving someone's life.
I'll give him that.
"I'll move the Grand Archbishop of Florence for you. That fellow has to bark like a dog at my word, so he'll help you very diligently. Furthermore, he'll even strip that Christian fellow of his priesthood."
"Thank you, Your Grace."
"I'll fully invest if you give me 30% of the sales and entrust me with the right to dispose of the products. Isn't this an attractive condition?"
To be honest, it was.
It was not uncommon for others to take nearly 40% as protection money without even making initial investments.
But if I bow down once like this?
From then on, I'll keep being taken advantage of.
This was an absolute disaster that I, aiming to be a behind-the-scenes manipulator in another world, cannot tolerate.
"Thank you for your valuable time, Your Grace."
Saying that, I stood up to leave the place.
It's extremely rude, but that gentleman can't kill me now.
If he kills me here, he would become trash who killed his vassal's son for no reason, lose political influence, and fall to ruin.
But if I went outside?
I could sell the mass production recipe for steel to the Sforza ducal family.
The duke hurriedly stood up and grabbed me.
"Stop!"
Then he shook his head.
"20% of the sales, I'll provide all the protection and initial capital! I'll apply this condition to any new contracts we make in the future, how about that?"
This is why monopolies were bad.
Because a competitive structure is created, even a small person like me can maximize my value.
"I pledge my loyalty to Your Grace, Duke. Now let's talk about the investment in earnest."
And so I was able to conclude a very favorable contract, using the 'new steel-making method' as a hostage.
The duke saw me off with an expression as if his soul had left his body, but...
I can guarantee.
That 10 minutes after I leave, he'll realize the value of the right to dispose of steel and start dancing.